Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eleven-syllable syllabic metre

Eğer nurlu yüze bakayım dersen
Şaha arzu halin bildiren gelsin
Muhabbet meyine sakiyim dersen
Cemde cana şarap dolduran gelsin
Bir üstattan içtim canı şarabı
Gökten yağar mevtçe gelir türabı
Hup bilindi bülbül ile türabı
Şol ahde peymanı güldüren gelsin
Ahdi peymanı sırrın kudretinden
Bir haber işittim babı batından
Şeriati ile tarikatından
Nefsinde şeytanı öldüren gelsin
Nefsini öldüren yüzü saf olur
Arifler kırk katta sözü saf olur
Ümmeti ola gör şah cihan olur
Masivay kalbinden kaldıran gelsin
Kul Hüseyin eydür olmaz bahane
Veliler didarı görene söyle
Allah kapısında durana söyle
Vücudu nur ile dolduran gelsin

In English

1. If you would look upon the radiant face, let him come who makes his state known to the Shah. If you would be cupbearer of the wine of fellowship, let him come who pours wine for the souls in the cem.

2. I drank the wine of the soul from a master; it rains from the sky, its earth comes like death (the second and third lines of the quatrain are obscure in the source). Let him come who makes that covenant and that pledge smile.

3. The covenant and the pledge are from the power of the secret; I heard news from the door of the inward. Let him come who, through the law and the order, kills the devil in his self.

4. One who kills his self has a pure face; the word of the sages is pure in forty layers. See that you become his community, you become shah of the world; let him come who removes from his heart all but God.

5. Kul Hüseyin says there is no excuse; tell the one who has seen the face of the saints, tell the one who stands at God's door; let him come who fills his body with light.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The article explains one line of this deyiş: "let him come who removes masiva from his heart" means "let him come who has turned away from everything other than God". The same redif "gelsin" (let him come) binds the second and fourth lines of every quatrain, preceded by "bildiren, dolduran, güldüren, öldüren, kaldıran, dolduran" (who makes known, who pours, who makes smile, who kills, who removes, who fills). The first and third lines rhyme as "dersen, dersen", "şarabı, türabı", "kudretinden, batından, tarikatından", "saf olur, saf olur, cihan olur", "bahane, söyle, söyle". The lines have eleven syllables, and there are five quatrains; Işık classes the text as a nefes. The last quatrain holds the pen name (mahlas) "Kul Hüseyin". The informant is Halil Sezgin.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

It is built like an invitation to the cem: let him come who would look upon the radiant face, the countenance of the pir or of God, who would be cupbearer and pour wine in the cem, who kills the devil in his self and removes masiva from his heart. Each quatrain states one of the conditions of joining the gathering. The cupbearer who offers the cup in the cem is one of the twelve services; the poet expects one who wishes to be cupbearer of the wine of fellowship to perform this service rightly.

In the third and fourth quatrains the true condition is set out: killing the self. One who passes through the gates of the law and the order and kills the devil in his self has a face made pure; the word of the sages too is purified in forty layers. Masiva is everything other than God; as Işık explains, removing it from the heart means turning away from everything but God. In the closing quatrain the poet says that there is no room for excuses and directs his call to those who have seen the face of the saints, who stand at God's door and who fill their bodies with light.

Bibliography

Online sources